Miles McBride didn’t become a full-time member of the Knicks’ rotation until the late-December trade that sent RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to the Raptors.
But the third-year guard, who signed a three-year contract extension worth $13 million on the day of that trade, has gone from barely playing to logging beyond-heavy minutes, especially in the past two games with All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson unavailable due to a left knee contusion.
The 23-year-old McBride played the final 47 minutes and 13 seconds after Brunson departed Sunday’s road win over the Cavaliers.
Coach Tom Thibodeau then played him another 45:38 — sitting out only the last 2 minutes and 22 seconds of the second quarter — in Tuesday’s home loss to the Hawks.
“I’m glad Coach trusts me to be playing me those minutes. Just wish we would’ve got the job done,” McBride said after Tuesday’s game. “Honestly, I feel fine. I think I’m more mad about losing than worrying about how my body feels.
“I don’t even think about it. This is what I’ve wanted, to be guarding the best player and to be playing point guard at a high level. This is what I’ve wanted my whole life. So I’ve done whatever I can to prepare for it.”
McBride has totaled 27 points over the past two games, while also serving as the primary defender against Cleveland’s Darius Garland and Atlanta’s Dejounte Murray.
He also has committed just one turnover over the two games, extending a stretch in which he’s been charged with no more than one giveaway in 18 of his past 19 appearances.
“Really just trying to read the game, watching film, seeing what the other team’s doing and then applying it to the game we’re playing,” McBride said, adding he’s not “thinking about” his turnover streak. “Nah, I think as a point guard, if you have that mindset, then you’re not gonna make certain types of passes. So you gotta play very confident out there and just see the game.”
McBride also is shooting a career-best 39.5 percent from 3-point range for the season, a massive improvement on the 28.2 percentage he’d compiled from long range over his first two NBA seasons.
McBride isn’t the only Knick playing drastically increased minutes amid the current rash of injuries — also including lengthy absences by the starting frontcourt of Julius Randle (shoulder), OG Anunoby (elbow) and Mitchell Robinson (ankle).
Josh Hart opened the season on the second unit, but he also has logged at least 40 minutes in each of the past seven games, averaging 43.3 over that span.
Hart only has been on the bench for a total of nine minutes over the past three games.
“I didn’t really feel that I was really there [Tuesday night]. I didn’t really show up until the second half,” said Hart, who scored all of his 14 points after halftime. “In the first half, I didn’t have that energy and wasn’t flying around.
“In the beginning of the game I put the onus on myself to be the energy guy and I didn’t come out with energy. So, that’s an interesting stat, but you know I gotta make sure I bring that every game and every possession I’m out there.”
The Knicks, who have dropped 8 of 11 entering Friday’s home game against the Magic, finished 16-for-52 from 3-point range in Tuesday’s loss, their most misses from long distance in any game this season.
“We’re doing everything we can,” McBride said. “We’re doing as much as we can recovery-wise, the guys that are playing big minutes and working on the chemistry [with] guys coming in and out. It’s tough, but you’ve gotta keep on moving forward.
“I mean, for us it’s our job. We’ve gotta make adjustments for our shots. That’s for you guys to say, if we’re tired. We’re never gonna say we’re tired. I think we’ve just gotta keep having the mindset that we’re taking the right shots and they’re gonna fall.”
